best twin for training?

[wearenotondunlop]

Charter Twins

EZZ35

If your eventual aim is to fly for a major airline, then staying in a major centre probably won’t get you very far. As others have suggested, make a clear decision of what your eventual aim will be, because if its the majors you’re after, going “bush” for an extended period of your life is just about essential. Our capital cities are full of CPL holders who were going to be airline pilots. And I take my hat off to those who choose to be a career instructor; its an honourable vocation and we need more of them in Australia for the benefit of our future industry. The instructors who get into airlines have to leave the centres and go into charter eventually if they want to change their direction, and getting into charter is a faster way than instructing.

I would agree with those who say put off the twin for a more appropriate time, as the heady days of quick progression seem to be well over, and aviation seems to have settled back to a more normal pace. Return of the 90’s , a situation where you need quite a bit of single charter aeroplane experience (700 – 1000 hrs) and a good employment record before anyone will chance you with their charter twin, especially in IFR conditions even if you’ve got the rating. Remember it means cash flow for them and costs money to insure and fix if something happens. Any downtime costs the company losts charters and lots of money. To get the first single charter job you need to spend some months getting known and breaking the ice with an employer (while you’re living there). The only fast track out of it is possibly a cadetship such as Qantaslink, Rex or similar.

A twin Comanche would be rarely if ever used in charter, Dubbo’s Airlink was the only operator I’d ever heard of, and flying school time in a twin would not really count for much, plus you would have to wait your turn in the single engine queue anyway before your twin spot comes up.

Barons and Cessna 310 were usually the first charter twin job, which would then lead onto Navajos / chieftains /Cessna 402 / 404 when you had proved you could handle the former pair, but that is probably some years off for you. Unless you’re born with the luck of the Irish, a chance to go straight onto a twin without doing a couple of years of paid employment flying a “high powered” charter single will never come.

My suggestion would be that if you have the funds, get a Cessna 210 endorsement and finish off your CPL on that if you can arrange it, with an Airvan being the next best thing, and perhaps a single engine instrument rating to give you an “out” if you get trapped by weather while you’re doing your “single engine VFR apprenticeship”. That way you’ve got some appropriate entry level experience that you have a chance to market to an employer. Though, if things are still tight in GA, it may be that cattle station mustering work and parachute dropping are the first steps on the rung, in which case a Cessna 182 endorsement is good to have in your kit. Then you can head North for some years, and begin working your way up the mountain until such time as an opportunity might allow you to return home within aviation.

When you know what twins your company operates, you’ll know what twin endorsement to get on your first or second stint of annual leave back in your home town, so you’re ready to go. That’s the time when you can also consider upgrading your single IFR rating to a twin for the time when its eventually needed.

In my opinion, some time on the “C-210 workhorse” with a 182 endorsement alongside it, is probably the best way to go to increase your employment prospects in the real world, if GA is back to the way it was when I scored my first job. But probably also important to realise is that your personality, perceived company "fit" and persistence will play an equal role in any employer's mind.

Hope the above is useful. Good Luck.